Great Scot! Part 1: Edinburgh

I have to admit that there’s something really comforting about traveling to an English-speaking country, especially in terms of ease of getting around. Maybe that has something to do with why I enjoyed my Irish and English adventures so much. However, I have to think that the natural beauty of the land contributes a lot as well. A few weeks ago I finally made it to Scotland and I honestly can’t wait to get back.

Having heard Edinburgh was quite nice (and since EasyJet flies there from Geneva), I decided to make that my primary destination. As luck would have it, a friend-of-a-friend is studying there so I even had a de facto tour guide and place to stay.

I arrived on Friday January 25th to rain and wind (big surprise). I met up with Erin and wandered around the city for a bit while she went to class. We then headed for dinner and spent the evening at an Australian bar with some of her friends to celebrate Australia Day (which is comparable to the 4th of July for us Americans).


The Merkat Cross in front on St Giles Cathedral


The Cathedral by night


John Knox, a reformer who spent a lot of time in Geneva, is still buried near the cathedral. Of course, the cemetery is now a parking lot (that yellow square marks his grave)


Edinburgh Castle

On Saturday morning we took a free walking tour from the same company Joe, Brian and I used in London. Erin came along and got to see a few things and learn some history she hadn’t known before. Lucky for us, the rain subsided, though the skies were still plenty gray. While Dublin is rather industrial, Edinburgh is very much a medieval city with lots of amazing old buildings infused with magic and majesty. After walking around for a little while, it comes as no surprise that this is where J.K. Rowling invented Harry Potter and wrote the first book.


Herriot's School, allegedly J.K. Rowling's inspiration for Hogwarts Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry


The Elephant House, the coffee shop where J.K. Rowling allegedly wrote the first Harry Potter book


Me in front of the Elephant House. Gotta love display fonts...


Greyfriars churchyard


statue of Greyfriar's Bobby, a terrier who wouldn't leave his master's graveside and became a local legend


Deacon Brody's Tavern, named after a prominent citizen whose double-life of crime and lechery inspired Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde


a statue of Deacon Brody


window from the Scottish National Gallery featuring one of my favorite pieces there


preternaturally green grass in one of the city’s parks



Following our tour, we toured the National Gallery and did a bit of shopping. Unfortunately, the castle was closing so I wasn’t able to actually tour that, but perhaps another time. By the time the sun went down, we were pretty exhausted so we decided to grab some dinner (Mexican!) and a catch a movie (the excellent Dan in Real Life which still hasn’t made it to Switzerland). All in all it was a great day.

After finding some breakfast and wandering around the shops of Princes Street on Sunday, it was time for me to take MegaBus up to Aberdeen where I would spend the rest of my trip.

London, England Part 4

The Grand Finale post of the London adventure…


On Friday night we went to the Globe Theater and saw Othello. The play was excellent, but we bought the cheap groundling tickets which meant standing for the whole 3.5 hours…


This is what the stage looked like (no photos allowed during the show)


These guys kept us entertained during the act break—took this right before someone informed me that I also wasn’t allowed to photograph the band…


One of the highlights of the trip for me was our return to Camden to browse the thrift stores, markets and used CD shops. I could’ve spent a whole day (and life’s savings) there.


A friend of Joe’s from D.C. told him about a donut stand there that we had to check out. Good thing we did—they were fantastically amazing!


Another view of some of the markets


We spent several hours on Saturday exploring the famed Victoria and Albert Museum of decorative arts


The V&A has a whole hall filled with reproductions of famous artworks. Pretty cool.


They also have a small section on graphic design, some of which is shown here.


One for the ladies… They had a special exhibit on Surrealism in product design which is why these couches were all over the lobby.


Picadilly Circus—one of the fun things for me was visiting many of the sites featured on my parents’ British Monopoly board. Weird to think that a week later the whole terrorism plot would be foiled right around the same place…


On Sunday morning I took the Tube over to King’s Cross station and found platform 9 3/4, though proved myself a true Muggle by spotting no wizards or magical activities. Seeing the new Harry Potter movie was quite neat, having just been to the city. The broomstick flight over the Thames was even more exciting. Now if only my copy of Deathly Hallows would get here.


That afternoon the theater district was hosting an outdoor festival called “West End Live.” I made it in time to see a couple of numbers from Chicago.

So there you have it. Quite a trip and I look forward to returning in the hopefully not-too-distant future.